Hello friend! Thank you for coming to visit our site, we’re honoured you decided to check it out. You’ll note there has not been an update here in months, that’s because we MOVED! That’s right, we have a brand new, beautiful website and tons of updated content along with it. Whether your an old friend or a new, we hope you’ll come visit our new site and join us on our journey. Check out the new site here: http://www.themediagrads.com/
Stay happy and Be Safe!
What a day! We’re back from attending the Emerge TO 2015 conference, hosted by the University of Guelph-Humber and we were so impressed. We’ve learned incredibly useful information from some of the best in the Canadian media industry. To read more about what Emerge TO is all about check out our earlier post Special Announcement! | The Media Grads. We have so many ideas for posts about Emerge TO that we’re going to start a new series on the blog called the Emerge TO 2015 series. You can expect reviews, coverage of the panels and more! We wanted to start off the series with something a little more general, as the title suggests, the top nine things we learned from the Emerge TO 2015 conference. This was a combined effort between Debra Coore and our guest writer Claire Humenik and me, Reja Zaidi. We noticed that there were some overarching themes discussed throughout the day and we put it all together in this post. These are listed in no particular order, enjoy!
In this industry, during this terrible economy, you need to be brave. You cannot be a passive person and wait for opportunities to come to you, you need to be active and chase after them with all you have. Be confident in yourself and your talent, and make sure to approach people. Jackie Redmond summed it up best when she said, “make yourself uncomfortable, vulnerable, and don’t be afraid to ask a question.” Daryn Jones also gave some awesome advice when he said, “Just go and attack, you’ll jump to the front of the line.” He went on to say,” If there’s a place you want to work, find a person you want to talk to and call them on the phone.” Don’t be afraid of taking chances guys, if you be brave it could lead to amazing opportunities. What is the worst that can happen?
Have you heard of that saying, “failure is the greatest teacher?” Well, it’s the truth. If you do experience failure, how are you going to grow? Don’t be afraid to fail but as Corbin Smith put it, “there is a difference between failing smart (you made an effort) and failing stupid (you put it no effort).” You need to try your best and take away what you learned from your experience and avoid those mistakes in the future. Take some inspiration from Colton Eddy’s story, he went through six internships that didn’t go well for him but he learned from his experiences and look at him now!
Let me throw in another cliché here, time is money. Jackie Redmond made a great point when she said, “Do not sit around the house doing nothing if you’re unemployed.” Start practicing what it is you want to have a job doing. If you like to write, why not start up a blog? If you like photography then go out and do your own photo shoots. Just keep building your skills because it will help you when an interview does come along. A general point made by panelists was to take advantage of the opportunities that come your way. Even if it’s something that you don’t exactly want to be doing, you’ll still have the opportunity to learn and make connections. You can always ask supervisors and managers for other responsibilities or to shadow people who have the jobs that you do want. At the end of the day the onus is on you.
If you live in Toronto or are in the area and you’re a high school student interested in media or a post-secondary student in first or second year, come to this conference! You’re going to learn so much about the realities of the media industry that you won’t learn in school and it will give you better advice then any guidance counsellor ever will. Corbin Smith started off his panel by asking his audience how many people are in high school. When a few people raised their hands he said, “You guys are ahead of everyone else.” He also mentioned that one way to stay ahead of the pack is to start getting work experience before graduating (e.g. internships and volunteer work). By getting involved early, you’ll become someone to watch out for.
You need to know what you’re talking about, it’ll set you apart from the rest of the crowd. Basim Mirza said it best, “Going into any kind of project, you need to have a clear strategy. Do your research on where you want to work and really customize your portfolio to reflect that dream job.” This means finding a company you might want to work for and read up on their accomplishments and key goals. Read job descriptions and see what skills and qualifications you need to get a job when you graduate. And don’t forget to measure your progress along the way to meeting that goal to see if the research has been effective.
Network, network, network. People aren’t lying when they say that these days connections are what get you work. Finding a mentor is one of the most valuable experiences you can have. When speaking about networking Sari Delmar said, “be genuine when it comes to making connections.” Don’t feel like you have to connect with tons of people on LinkedIn because everyone else does. Another panelist mentioned, “You will probably have to do a lot of cold calling, networking, just getting your name out here and being relentless to find one person to give you a shot.”
The economy is shit, which means everyone is focusing more diligently on making money. Everyone is focusing on value. To find work you need to prove that you will be valuable to the organization. A panelist mentioned that you can build your value by, “choosing your content wisely, people judge you by what you put out there”, are you putting out half finished, underdeveloped work or polished work that shows you at your best?
Something we’ve mentioned on the Media Grads before is that the industry is getting smaller and smaller. You can’t just be an expert in one thing anymore, you need to be a jack of all trades. Daryn Jones made a fantastic point by saying, “Have multiple skill sets, the media industry is always changing. It’s not enough to be an expert in only one area anymore. Start developing various skill sets (e.g. – writing, digital design, etc.).”
Seriously, there’s a reason that they come up so much, they’re true. Here are a few that came up:
These are just some of the things we learned at Emerge TO and we hope they help you too! Stay on the lookout for future posts in our Emerge TO series. We’ve got lots of great content coming up. We really recommend attending this conference and if you’re in the Toronto area you should come out to Emerge TO 2016. To check out our live coverage of the events check out our Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheMediaGrads and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/themediagrads?fref=photo
Know what you want
What career path you decide to begin to pursue at 17 doesn’t have to be set in stone. However, you have to start somewhere, and the earlier you have a plan the better. Many schools now offer program quizzes that give you a list of possible future careers to choose from, and programs that might be a good fit such as Kent University’s Career Explorer. You can also talk to your current teachers or a guidance counselor to get some ideas. Having a general plan doesn’t guarantee the future, it just means a better start towards finding an in demand job that you love to do.
Volunteer
Getting involved is another involved great way to get some work experience and find out what career path you might interested in while you’re still in highschool. Being active in community events or being a part of an afterschool club can really give you a sense of possible careers, and provide you with future references. If you’re feeling really ambitious you can also try for a summer internship. Summer internships look really impressive on resumes, and they’re a great way to get your foot in the door for a job once you’re done post-secondary school.
If you like it, do it
Even if you don’t volunteer for an official organization or join a school club, don’t let that stop you from exploring your interests. If you’re a writer, then write. If you’re a photographer, take pictures. If you have a skill that you’re passionate about, then hone it. Even if you don’t get payment or recognition, you’re still increasing your skills, and in some cases building pieces you can use for a portfolio later on. 
Grades aren’t everything
One mistake I’m guilty of making in high school was putting a lot of emphasis on my grades. Break this habit as soon as you can. Don’t get me wrong, grades are important. However more and more post-secondary schools and employers are looking for well-rounded candidates. It’s not enough just to be intelligent and hardworking, to succeed you also need communication skills, confidence, and a positive attitude. All of these traits can be learned through getting out of the library and being a part of a group activity. Being on a community soccer team, helping out at a senior home, even being a part for a guild in World of Warcraft, are all possible ways to build these traits.
Although I don’t think your mother is going to buy that you spend all day on your phone to work on your “communication skills”
Don’t Feel too much Pressure to get into a good school
As far as undergrads go, you don’t have to go to a prestigious school. Ivy League schools are a lot of money and a lot of pressure, especially if you’re not 100% sure what you want to do with your life. If you get into Harvard and have the financial and emotional support needed to excel, then that’s amazing, congratulations! For everyone else maybe another school is a better fit, both financially, and a more relaxed environment will give you some time to transition from a teenager to an adult. Once you’re done your undergrad and are sure about where you want your future career to go, then try for the Ivy League. For a Masters’ and PHD it’s always good to have a name that carries a lot more weight. 
Pictured above, my idea of what university looked like as a kid
Networking
Network. Just do it. I know it’s harder for some people that it is for others, but networking might be more beneficial for your future than going to post-secondary school. These days it really is who you know more than what you know. If you’re volunteering and really getting involved in activities outside of school, you’ve opened up your social circle quite a bit. Don’t be afraid to talk to people and let them know what you’re interested in, and that you want to find out more about a certain career field. You might just find someone willing to mentor you, and possible connections for your time in college and university.
If you have someone looking out for you, you might as well take advantage
You only do high school once, so make the most of it.
Here’s a list of more resources to help you get on the right track: Bright Future: College Planner Government of Ontario Career Quiz Kids Health: Life After High School
Stop rolling your eyes (at the title), I’m serious. A retail job can be useful in a media career, or any career really (but since this is The Media Grads we’ll focus on media) Like anything in life it’s just the matter of how you choose to use it. On a side note, if you can afford to do so, the best advice is to keep your retail job until your second year of university, after that focus on finding an internship! Seriously that is one of the best pieces of advice I can give you if you want a career by the end of university. If you can’t afford to just focus on the unpaid internship then keep on working at your retail job as well. Although they seem to be an anomaly these days, try and stay on the lookout for a paid internship if you choose to take the combination (job and unpaid internship) route. I’ll delve more into this in a future post, there is a reason internships are such a controversial topic, there’s just so much to talk about. The point of this post is that you can develop skills in your retail job that will be useful in your future media career.
Think of your retail job as a skeleton of the skills that you’ll need (not only for future of your career but your adult life in general). This is the opportunity to learn your lessons and not be judged because you’re still a kid. This is the chance to make stupid mistakes and learn from them. Here is a list of some useful skills to develop, while you still have the chance.
Skill number one: Ask all the right questions
This one is especially true for those who work in clothing stores. Have you ever had to help customers find something when they just don’t know what they wanted? After a while you’ll learn that it’s possible (to help them), it’s just a matter of asking the right questions. Surprise, you can apply this into your future career as well. If you haven’t heard about this by now, let me be the first to tell you that, in real life people won’t care about how you do something, they just want to see the results. No one is going to give you a how-to manual, you’re just expected to get things done. Guess what skill you’re going to need in these situations because you will encounter a lot of them. The skill of learning how to ask the right questions. When you learn how to ask the right questions, you can get the right results.
Skill number two: Get the job done
Let me repeat what I mentioned in my previous point. Most employers don’t care how you do something (most of the time) you just need to get the job done. No, that does not mean getting others to complete the job for you. Whether it’s reaching a target for sales or having a certain amount of inventory cleared in a certain amount of time, at the end of the day you have been hired to get the job done. Figure out how to perfect this skill starting now. The main idea is to get a good grasp of time management, as well as being assertive, organized and responsible. Do whatever you need to do to get the job done.
Skill number three: The art of diplomacy, in the retail world
Workplace politics at its finest, channel your inner Tyrion Lannister (Game of Thrones reference, for those living under a rock) and learn the delicate art of becoming a team player while getting along with people you don’t like. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating the work place politics is more House of Cards than Game of Thrones, I’m kidding, slightly. The point is that you cannot run away from it. If you thought group projects were bad, wait until you show up to the real world. Like I mentioned in the previous point, the main reason you’re hired is to get the job done. In many cases getting the job done will also mean you’ll need to work with other people. You might luck out and like everyone you work with in which case (where do you work?!) but chances are you’re going to run into some unsavoury personalities. You need to figure out how to find common ground with these people and get the job done. It’s an art, but the best time to learn is now.
Skill number four: “Cinderelly, cinderelly…”
Stop reading right now and go watch the new Cinderella movie (no this is not a promotion), consider it more like research. In today’s world you need to know how to multi task. I don’t know if anyone has told you but the economy sucks… a lot. The dear old big businesses have been cutting jobs and now people are expected to know how to do six different things in addition to the one that they were hired for. That pretty much means, you’re Cinderella and you have a huge list of tasks you need to complete in given time, or the Stepmother is going to be angry. In this situation the only fairy godmother that’s going to save you is well, you. Now is the time to perfect your multi-tasking skills. Learn how to handle the cash, the phone, the fitting rooms, and answer customer questions efficiently while completing your tasks and you’ll become a pro in no time.
Skill number five: I am not your human calculator
This one, I’m throwing in for the benefit of humanity. You’d be surprised at the number of functioning adults who cannot do basic math. I’m talking someone coming up to you and asking what 50 per cent off of a twenty dollar shirt is going to come to. Doesn’t that make you worry for humanity? I don’t even need to ask you to do this because if you work in retail you will quickly learn the art of how to do quick math in your head. I only ask that you take this skill with you in life when you move on to other careers and hopefully once enough of us are out there maybe someday no one will ask unfortunate questions like that again?
Retail can be tough, and you will be taken advantage of for the amount of work you need to complete and the (ahem) delightful situations you’ll need to deal with. But who says you can’t get something in return? Think of every shift as an opportunity to learn something new, to challenge and improve yourself. By the end of it, you might just come out of it stronger than ever before.
I might as well lay it out in the open, we’re excited to announce that we’ll be attending the Emerge 2015 conference at the University of Guelph-Humber. The conference is run by the fourth year students in the media studies program as their final major project. It’s a ridiculous amount of work that involves a conference, magazine, gallery exhibition and this year includes an awards show! They manage to work on all this while doing internships at the same time and make it look super professional! Unfortunately due to time constraints we’re only going to be able to cover the conference.
To give you some more information on the conference, here is a quick description from the media kit: “The interactive, one-day conference will offer a series of workshops for young professionals and seasoned industry players and students alike”. To put it in simpler terms this is a chance to interact with industry professionals, aspiring professionals and peers in the industry, and of course talk about what we all love, the media. The conference will have workshops as well as Q&A panels with media professionals that include; Daryn Jones, Cabbie Richards, Basim Mirza, Corbin Smith, Jackie Redmond, Colton Eddy and many more.
What does this mean for you as readers? Well, you can expect a lot of exciting content filled with awesome advice from leading media professionals. We’re already getting ready to come up with a list of questions to ask. If you have any questions you’d like us to include, please leave them in the comments below and we’ll do our best to ask them. We’ll also have loads of pictures and updates on social media so be sure to keep an eye out for that as well. The point is that we have lots of exciting content coming up in April!
For those who wish to attend the conference, it’s going to be held at the University of Guelph-Humber campus on April 21st 2015. It will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is located at 205 Humber College Blvd. You can purchase your ticket at www.emergeconference.ca. We can’t wait to see you there!
Going to post-secondary school is a big commitment. You have a loss in income from not being able to work full-time, the pressures of taking out a loan to pay for classes, and you might be away from a lot of your old friends and family. The pressure to get it right the first time around is immense, as you’ll probably have to get at least one diploma or degree to even qualify for many entry level positions. Sometimes you end up wasting more time and money in the long run by completing a program you aren’t happy with in a field that does interest you. A college or a program doesn’t have to be a life sentence. If you’re feeling unsure about your current choice, it’s not too late to think about changing programs/schools.
“Only one of these paths leads to success and happiness. Happy choosing!”
It takes time to know what you want
When I first started University, I knew I wanted to be finished school, be employed full-time and have OSAP paid off by the time I was 24. I didn’t use my time wisely in high school. I knew I liked media but I wasn’t quite sure which field to go into. I should have spent more time on math and science classes, which would have enabled me to do more technical work. That lack of planning in high school limited my options in university. When post-secondary applications came out I thought maybe I might like to try film. I got into a school that let students explore multiple areas of media, so I was able to find out pretty quickly that the life of a camera man was not the life for me. There are thousands of students all across North America with the same problem. No one knows what they want to do for the rest of their life when they’re 17 years old. Growing up and having different life experiences can change what career you want completely.
“When I grew up I realized that the world or professional gaming was’t as glamorous as it seemed in 1998.”
Don’t be afraid to start over or take a break
If you do change your mind, or aren’t certain about the program you’re in, don’t be afraid to differ your enrollment, take some time off between semesters, or look into other programs and schools entirely. It’s better to graduate a bit later than is ideal than spend any more time and money on something you know isn’t right for you. Think of it as a chance to take some time off or save some money, there’s no rush.
Not necessarily starting from scratch
If you do choose to change your focus in school, while it might take a bit more time and effort in the short-term, you might not have to go back to square one. If you’re in university, this could be as simple as changing majors. If you’re switching schools you might be able to get credits transferred, to shorten the length of time and the cost of doing a new program. If for whatever reason you can’t just switch programs or transfer credits and you end up starting over completely, there is some hope. Whatever skills and knowledge you gained from the classes you’ve taken in the past stays with you. I didn’t choose journalism as my major in school, but the classes I took on the subject have helped me throughout university and in my working life as well. Knowledge is always a useful thing to have, so make the most of it.
You don’t have to leave everything behind
The biggest reason I didn’t change schools was that I didn’t want to leave behind the friends I had made in school. A year after graduating and I still keep in contact to the people I was closest to in university. Had I transferred schools I do believe that (with a bit of effort) our friendship would have lasted. You can still see the people you care about, and if switching schools means moving to a new area and leaving what you know behind, just remember that it’s only temporary. You can still visit home and keep in touch with old friends. This is for your future and the career you’re working towards, true friends will be there for you and support your goals, no matter what.
If you’re still unsure about switching schools or programs, then maybe staying where you are is the best decision. While I did go back to school and get a more specialized diploma, the skills I learned my first time around have come in handy, and set me apart from other web designers. However just know that whether you change direction, or see your original path through to the end, your career and education can only give you what you put into it. While some programs are more employable than others, some campuses have a better quality of student life than others, and an Ivy League name will always afford new opportunities, don’t be afraid to go out and do what you think is best for you.
Commuting on public transit, whether you love it or hate it, you have to admit it saves money. Not everyone, no matter how much they wish it can afford to live near their university or college and a majority of students have to commute on transit. It saves you a lot of money but unfortunately depending on how long it is, it can take up a lot of your time. In my case it was two hours to school and two hours to come back at minimum. If you’re going to school four times a week that adds up to 16 hours, a little more than half a day! Lucky for you, there is some light in this situation. You have all the control, yes you. It’s time to turn a negative into a positive, here are my five tips to make your time commuting not seem like the end of the world.
Tip 1: Contemplate your journey in life
Get it, you’re on the journey of life and you’re thinking about it while you’re literally on a journey? I’m sorry but I had to throw that one in. Anyways, with the hustle and bustle of present day, we never really get the chance to take some time and just stop. Your time commuting can be a chance to reflect on life, where you are where you’re going or to even just stop and observe the world around you and appreciate where you are. It’s a chance enjoy the view (if you’re sitting beside a window). It can also be an opportunity to work through your problems, have an epiphany, a chance to write down your plans for the future. It can even be a time to just update your agenda or diary. Think of it this way, life is giving you an opportunity to pause and think about if you’re going in the right direction.
Tip 2: Get transported into another world
No, you will not be going to Narnia. Well technically, you could if you picked up the Chronicles of Narnia book! Yes, I’m telling you to pick up a book for fun, aren’t you shocked? The truth is, when you get to university or college many people stop reading for fun. The way that textbooks are written, I don’t blame them about being wary. The main excuse is that they don’t have time. Well guess what, you do have time. When you’re commuting. Reading during that time can be a great stress reliever, you can escape hustle of the world. If you’re feeling nostalgic for easier times, why not grab a favourite book from when you were younger? Harry Potter anyone?
Tip 3: Listen to a Podcast
For those of you who don’t know, a podcast is kind of like a radio broadcast that can be downloaded from the internet. Unlike the radio, anyone can record their own, with the right equipment of course! Podcasts can be about anything and everything, from people discussing TV shows to movies, politics and current events, any event under the sun. I’ve been listening to some for over five years and I can honestly say, every time I press the play button on my IPOD it’s like catching up with old friends. One podcast I recommend is #Millenial (the hashtag is silent) it’s the same team that brought you the Smart Mouths podcast, MuggleCast and yes even Imprint. It’s a bunch of twenty year olds from all walks of life who discuss current events and manage to make some insightful points and somehow keep it fresh. You may not agree with everything they say but they still manage to keep you laughing.
Tip 4: Meet new People
I remember the first friend I met on my first day at university. Guess what, I didn’t meet her on campus, it was on the bus. It turned out I wasn’t the only person making the long trek towards school from far away. In fact the first time we talked to each other was when we got off the bus and were crossing the road going to school. Funny enough, I met her once again after class when we were waiting for the bus and chatted away through the rest of our journey home. I can tell you that trip back home went by a lot quicker than my trip to school in the morning. I met her a lot after that and am happy to say that we have been friends ever since. The lovely part about commuting is that you become a lot more aware of your surroundings, you start to notice familiar faces on your commute and even while you wait for the bus. Some people turned out to be classmates or familiar faces around campus. After a long and stressful day I can’t even describe the joy you feel when you spot that familiar face waiting for the bus too.
Tip 5: Sleep
As a student, you can never get enough of it. Going from someone who had to wake up at 7 for school to someone who had to get up at 5 in the morning was a huge adjustment. Let’s face it, late nights aren’t something that can be avoided during that time, unless you’re living on residence (cough cough). Simply put if you’ve got a long commute, it’s the perfect chance to catch up on sleep. My advice is to figure out what time you will need to get off your stop at. Set you alarm on your phone five minutes before you reach your stop and then feel free to take a nap. Your body will thank you for it.
How you feel about the situation is up to you. You have the power to make your commute go from a dull ride to something you look forward to every day. These are just some tips, there are tons of other options as well. I’d love to hear about any ideas you have to make your daily commute a better experience. For those of you who are feeling uncertain or depressed about your commute, follow these tips and trust me, you might just look back at your time commuting with fondness.
Being an international student is an amazing experience! It can be stressful, but it can also be wonderful. As someone who’s had a chance to study abroad in the past, I had the chance to talk to a current international student about his motivation for going to school in a different country. He also shared some advice for anyone thinking of studying abroad.
Meet Thiago
I’m Thiago Araujo and I have just finished the
Web Design, Development and Maintenance program at Humber College.
In Brazil I was a graphic designer and I decided to go to school at Humber in order to enhance my resume. My main reason for going back to school was that, nowadays a graphic designer must understand some basic coding. In Brazil the media industry is chaotic and not regulated. We face low salaries, piracy and non qualified completion that always charge cheaper than you. Also our market is bigger than Canada, so it makes things harder in order to work or sell creativity.
“If you can’t sell your art, you might as well put it where other people can enjoy it.”
I had different reasons for coming to Canada. First of all, I have family here that help me with some expenses. Second, Canada is one of the safest countries in the world. Lastly, North America is one of, if not the greatest producer of web content in the world. So I believe this was the best choice. In Canada I think the support for students is better than at home. The faculty really worry if their graduates will or will not land a job. For example, I had to create a portfolio at the end of my program, which is something that my University in Brazil never requested. The faculty here wants to us to display and show our work and get known, while in Brazil the student is on their own, or has to make a request to get feedback about their portfolio.
So far the hardest part about being an international student is home sickness. It’s hard being far away from my family, especially coming from a country which is very warm welcoming. People in Brazil are more welcoming and always smiling. The weather is a lot warmer and it creates a more relaxed environment, there is always a party to go to. Here it’s been harder, it’s a much different way to chill out.
“Literally.”
The best advice I could give is to say that if you’re thinking of going to school in another country you should definitely try it. It’s an experience that every student should have along their academic career. It’s a mind-opening experience. When staying out of your comfort zone you get to see things from a different point of view. Just make sure to plan your trip carefully ahead of time, and if things aren’t perfect just them happen and don’t stress too much. Don’t make great expectations, just let it be and enjoy the experience.
The biggest thing iv’e learned being so far away from home is to be more resistant and control my emotions. So far I’ve enjoyed being in Canada, I think so far I like everything. For now my goal for the future is to get a job in web design.
Thiago is currently working towards a freelance career in web development. See more of his work here.
Going abroad is definitely a big decision, that can be both emotionally and financially draining. The important thing is to stay safe, and learn as many new things as possible. Make sure you do your research about a particular countries customs and culture before you go, especially if there’s a language barrier.
For anyone looking more into studying abroad, here are some resources:
http://www.wikihow.com/Study-Abroad-when-You-Don%27t-Know-Anyone
http://www.statravel.com/study-abroad-tips.htm
http://www.internationalstudent.com/study-abroad/guide/safety-tips/
You can’t sleep. You’re either eating too much or not eating at all. Class mates that you’ve bonded with over the past three years have turned into the ‘competition’ overnight. That’s right folks, internship hunting season has begun.
*Side note: This post is directed at people who are looking to complete an internship in the next few months for either a college/university credit or just want to do an internship for some experience. With that said even if you’re not currently looking for an internship, there may be some advice that could be of use to you.
Tip 1: Be the best you, you can be
Today, there are many layers to being a person. You’re not just a person in real life anymore, you also live online. I’ll take a leap of faith and assume it’s been drilled into your head that you must be aware of your online presence. Please allow me to drill a little further, make sure your online presence is employer friendly, and squeaky clean.
Checklist
Once you have your online presence taken care of, make sure your real life documents are at their best too. Internships are like jobs, naturally you need a resume when you apply jobs, and you’ll do the same when applying for internships. Make sure your resume is top notch. This is the first introduction of yourself that you make to employers. Before sending out those resumes make sure to have your resume looked over by as many people as possible. Every school has a career centre, you can could also ask current or former professors to have a look over or even some fellow classmates.
Tip 2: Apply, Apply, and Apply
The next process will seem daunting but trust me, the more you apply, the higher chances you’ll have of getting asked for an interview. Many job descriptions seem scary and many times you’ll think to yourself, can I really do this? My advice, don’t think about it, just apply. You can worry about the rest later. Search for internships on your school’s career website, directly on company websites, or job search engines like Indeed or Talent Egg. Ask everyone in your circle of family and friends if they know of any opportunities. In other words, there shouldn’t be any opportunity wasted. Remember not to be too picky. For example, if you’re looking to land a position as a public relations intern but you see an opening for an event planning internship, apply for it. There’s always a chance you could land it and it might not be ideal but this is an opportunity to learn something new. You never know, you might even like it. If nothing else, it will give you some experience and could lead to connections that could eventually get you where you want to be. Apply everywhere!
Tip 3: Let them know you care
In some cases, the company may ask you not to contact them, they’ll contact you if they plan on going any further. In which case you would follow their advice.
I’m assuming there are thousands of people applying for the same positions that you are. You need to do whatever you can to stand out. In this case, always follow up. Send an email, you can ask if the position is still available and make sure to tell them you are still interested. If you happen to have their phone number, call them! Make sure to repeat this step after your interview!
Tip 4: Sometimes we all need to play dress up
You know how when you were a child you used to play pretending to be a doctor, a mechanic, an artist or a CEO. Well it’s time to put those skills back into use. When going in for your interview (one of many I hope), make sure you dress the part. Dress for the job you wish you had. Put on that blazer, make sure your hair’s done properly, etc. Make sure you have all the important accessories as well. No, I’m not talking about your jewelry. If you really want to make an impression make sure your portfolio is in a proper portfolio folder (trust me, it’s worth the investment). You should also have extra copies of your resume, and portfolio pieces to leave for your interviewer. If you can manage it, make sure to have a business card to leave with them as well. Most importantly, make sure you dress up your persona. This means, go in with the confidence of a CEO but always remember to stay humble.
Tip 5: Beggars can’t be choosers
Congratulations! You’ve made it through the hard part. Applications are completed, you’ve suffered through all those interviews and now it’s time to hear if you got the job. I’m assuming your nerves are going haywire right now, and sleep is completely out of the question. My advice, don’t have any expectations and don’t play favourites. If there is a particular position that interests you the most, don’t get your hopes up. Wait for the responses. At this point look at each opportunity as a chance to learn. If you’re lucky you’ll get more than one offer of an internship. If not, accept what you’ve gotten gratefully and prepare for the next few months of experiencing the real world.
I know this is a stressful time but trust me when I say you’ll get through this. Keep in mind that these were just a few basic tips and there is a lot more stuff that you can also do. If you’re interested, check out All Work, No Pay: Finding an Internship, Building Your Resume, Making Connections, and Gaining Job Experience, by The Intern Queen, Lauren Berger). Make sure to check out the Media Grads in the future, we’ll make sure to have more posts relating to internships. Good luck on your internship hunt! To borrow a quote from the Hunger Games, “may the odds be ever in your favour.”
The Web Developer Toolbar
This extension is a must have when working on a web design project. Similar to “Inspect Element” or “View Page Source” on Chrome, FireFox and Opera (right click, to Inspect Element or “View Page Source), you can use this to look at the CSS properties and the HTML code for any web page. It’s a good way to learn if you’re still getting the hand of HTML and CSS, or if you want to get some understanding as to how another developer has done something particularly neat. The Web Developer Toolbar goes above and beyond that and will allow you to view the source and sizes of all images on a page as well as look at different element outlines. You can also view links and anchors, resize elements and view the page with or without cookies. All changes appear on the page instantly, that way you can make all of the changes you want with the toolbar and then copy them into your code. It’s much more accurate than the design view in Dreamweaver and a lot easier to manage than having to upload your page and refresh just to see minor changes.
Browsers: Chrome, Firefox, Opera
Web Fonts
This add-on is amazing when trying to decide what font to use on a web project or if you’re updating the fonts on a pre-existing web page. With this toolbar you can see any font from the Google Font library live on any page. You can also choose what tag you want to preview to get a good feel of the title, paragraph and link fonts all look like. A similar extension available for Chrome is called Font Changer.
Browsers: Opera
Awesome Screenshot
This one is a handy tool for capturing a screenshot of a webpage. While there are a lot of great paid screen capture software to choose from, the free browser extensions tend to be basic. Awesome Screenshot allows you to capture the full page, or the part visible. Once the screenshot is captured you can add annotations with the text, line and shape tools. Once done just press capture and you can save the image temporarily on Awesome Screenshot, permanently with Diig to get a link, or save the image to your computer. In the options panel you can choose between downloading jpg. or a png. file, or set up a keyboard shortcut for the extension. A similar extension for Opera is called Page Capture but does not allow annotations.
Honorable Mention: Snagit. Is in no way a browser extension but it is so handy I had to give it a mention. This tool is amazing for browser screenshots, and recording everything on your computer screen. You can take videos and sound recordings as well and the annotation and editing capabilities are really in depth. There’s also the option of tech support. There is a 15 day trial and the student price is $29.95.
Browsers: Chrome, FireFox
ColorZilla
This is one of my all-time favorite extensions. It’s not just for the web and works as a great tool for all areas of design. For web design I find it helpful for keeping track of the colors I’m using and it helps me find some great colours as well. What ColorZilla does is allow you to use the eyedropper to pick a colour off of any web page you wish. Once you grab a colour you can save it, name it and copy the colour code with a choice of HEX, RGB or HSL value.
Browsers: Chrome, FireFox
Page Ruler
This extension is one of the most useful I’ve come across. It is immensely helpful for resizing elements or planning for how big I want things on a page. It can also help with resizing elements for different screen sizes. It gives you the exact measurements and you can choose between different units including pixels.
Browsers: Chrome, FireFox
The Media Grads 
